What Is The Youtube Creator Academy?
If you want to be a Youtuber, then you need to read this review of Youtube Creator Academy. What is this course about?
The course is designed by Graham Stephan to help you make money as a Youtuber even if you have zero knowledge about Youtube and how to excel in it.
But before I talk to you about Youtube Creator Academy, I need to be up front with you: I have some concerns with this course. The first concern is that it doesn’t tell you enough about making MONEY from Youtube, more about how to create youtube videos.
But really, my main concern with this course is that you will need to delve into affiliate marketing to make money with Youtube.
In affiliate marketing, you have very little control over what you are selling. Product owners may not pay you. They may change their commission structure (I have personally had this happen). They may remove their products from the market (I have had this happen too!). Instead, learn a business model that puts you in control AND works better than Youtube (click the link) You keep all the profits and you own all the products. And it takes less time to setup than an a Youtube Channel. Just click the underlined link above to see what I’m talking about.
Here’s a video of my daughter’s business using this :
Click Here to Get The Course My Daughter Used.
The course my daughter used above is much better than Youtube Creator Academy. But since you are here to learn about Youtube Creator Academy, lets get back to our review of that:
In his course, he outlines the steps and strategies that he used to build his Youtube channel from zero subscribers to 370,000 subscribers in just 24 months. While at 370 thousand subs, Graham claims that he made $50,000 per month solely from Youtube Ads revenue but as of now, his Youtube channel is at 3 million subs which means that he is probably making more than $100,000 per month from Youtube Ads revenue.
It took Graham a few years of trials and errors, watching Youtube SEO videos, going to forums as well as taking lessons from other big Youtube influencers on how to grow a Youtube channel successfully and make money from it.
From his experience and knowledge, he put together 8 hours worth of video training to be successful with Youtube, it took him 3 months to compile everything together and Youtube Creator Academy was born.
How Much is Graham Stephan Worth?
Graham Stephan is a famous Youtuber and real estate agent. He got started in real estate when he was 18 as he realized from his environment that going to college and getting a degree is not his path because he wanted to become rich and achieve financial freedom.
From that time, he started to invest in income-generating real estate while being a real estate agent working for a commission at the same time. While being a real estate agent and investor, Graham started a Youtube channel in a financial education niche, teaching people how to achieve financial freedom through real estate, stock investing, and more.
Graham Stephan Net Worth? He currently has combined revenue of more than $4 million per year and a Youtube channel of more than 3 million subscribers. As a real estate agent, he has a celebrity list of clients such as Orlando Bloom and Chloe Grace Moretz. Is Graham Stephan his real name? Yes, it is. How tall is Graham Stephan? 5 ft 8 in. Is Graham Stephan married? No he is not, but he does have a girlfriend.
Now, let’s look inside his course and the content that supposedly helps you to build a successful Youtube channel and make money with it.
Is Youtube Creator Academy Worth It?
Module 1: Testimonials And Introduction To Youtube
The module starts with a section dedicated solely to testimonials from his students that have grown their own Youtube channels successfully with Graham’s advice and guidance.
Then, he moves to an introduction to Youtube and he explains how he got started with Youtube and achieved 370,000 subs in just 2 years.
This is supposed to be an inspirational and motivational video of his journey as a Youtuber and real estate agent.
It all comes with his thought on how he has been watching business motivational videos on Youtube to pursue his career in real estate. One thought came to his mind that he needs to produce business and financial content videos to motivate people and give financial advice for free.
He shot his first Youtube video in 2016 on his phone talking about his story of how he got started in real estate. He posted 2 videos a week on average and commented on other big influencers’ videos to get his name around.
His channel grew from zero to 32,000 subs after his videos went viral. He realized a money-making opportunity with Youtube and got really serious with it until now, where he has one of the biggest financial information Youtube channels on the platform.
Module 2: Why Youtube?
In the second module, Graham takes you on why he chose Youtube over any other platforms out there such as Instagram, Twitter, and more.
The first reason is Youtube is the only place where he can host long videos of himself talking about a specific topic. Other platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have a video length limit for each post.
The second reason is that Youtube is the second largest search engine after Google and Google also own Youtube. Nowadays, most people do not only use Google to get information, they also use Youtube to watch videos on the information that they need.
The third reason is the monetization aspect of Youtube. He explains on Youtube, you can make a lot of money through different channels. The most famous one is through Youtube Ads revenue, but you can also make money selling courses, affiliate marketing, sponsor ads, merch, and more.
Module 3: Before You Start
In the third module, Graham teaches you how to prepare your Youtube video. He explains that you need to create a professional video to stand out from the rest, and the more work that you put into your video creation, the better it will perform on Youtube.
Some of the things that you need to look at before creating your video are planning on the content, the editing part of the video, keyword research, designing a thumbnail that will rank, and more.
The most important that he mentions is to be consistent and post videos at least every week on your Youtube channel.
Module 4: What Camera Equipment To Use
To create a professional-looking video, you need the right equipment to get the job done. Graham said the camera equipment that you need depends on the type of video that you are going to produce.
For a professional-looking lecture video, Graham suggests using Canon 70D or 80D, but if your content revolves around vlogging then he recommends Sony Handycam 4k or Canon G7X MKiii.
But if you do not have the budget to start, shooting a video on your phone would do but make sure that it is at least 720p in video quality.
Graham explains that people are inclined to watch a video that is high quality and professional as somehow it creates that trustworthy look for your viewers.
Other things that he mentions in this module are getting the perfect audio, which tripod to use, editing software, and more.
Module 5: Planning Your Videos
In this module, Graham talks about niche selection. He explains that you need to get into a niche that you like, there is demand for it, and the niche that you would like to talk about for years to come.
If you get into the niche that you like and have expertise in, creating the content would be easy for you as you already know what to talk about, one thing that he advises is to niche down if there is too much competition in your niche. This way you can grow your channel better and once your channel is big enough, you can create content that is more competitive within your niche.
Then, he explains whether you need to show your face in your video or not and some tips to create your Youtube channel name.
Module 6: Creating Your Videos
Now we are moving to video creation. In this module, Graham outlines a few things that you need to create a perfect video.
Firstly, he explains the communication part where he urges you to use simple conversational terms and to avoid complicated terms where people will have a hard time understanding the message that you are trying to convey.
In this way, your viewers will likely watch your video until the end or most of your video length duration. Once you have a high video retention rate, Youtube will likely recommend your video to more viewers and rank it high on organic search.
Some other things that he mentions are how to come up with viral video ideas and some tips to keep your video highly engaging to your viewers.
Module 7: How To Edit Your Videos
In this module, Graham takes you on the lesson of how to edit your videos. Most of the editing is done using iMovie.
Firstly, he takes you on a tutorial of how to use iMovie to edit your videos, he explains some terms and features that you are going to be using when editing your videos.
Graham mentions to not make your video too heavily edited in the eyes of your viewers, you need to keep it clean and professional.
Some ways for you to keep it clean is by increasing the watch time, using some pictures for references on the things that you are talking about, as well as some sound effects.
He also walks you through adding end-screen videos and end-card tutorials. The module ends with a simple algorithm trick which is by adding your video to a playlist.
Module 8: Creating Your Channel
This module is about creating and optimizing your channel to look professional and rank on Youtube.
Firstly, he teaches you how to choose a good thumbnail and banner for your channel. For your thumbnail, he suggests going for something that represents your brand or your picture. Your banner needs to be eye-catching as well.
Then, he walks you through how to customize your channel template to get more views. He also strongly recommends you complete your about me section because this is one of the keys to getting your channel recognized by Youtube and viewers. Your channel keywords should also be filled in as it will help with organic search ranking.
Another important thing is to have a channel introductory video, this will give the viewers a rough picture of what value and content your channel produces, this can be a way to convert them to subscribers.
Module 9: NINJA SEO Techniques To Rank First
In this module, Graham shares with you how to rank on the first page of a Youtube search. He explains that Youtube is a search engine just like Google, so SEO plays a big role when it comes to first-page ranking.
These are some of his SEO advice when optimizing your video. For the title, it should be short and to the point as well as related to high search keywords. For description, he advises you to be specific and write around the keywords that you have chosen.
Next is the tags, his advice is to max out the tags space that Youtube allows you and put every keyword that is related to your video there, this will bring as much traffic as possible organically to your video. Then, he talks about the thumbnail of your video, he suggests you spend some time doing your thumbnail, make it look attractive and eye-catching, this is where you will win your viewer’s attention. If your thumbnail sucks, people will not click on your video.
Module 10: Ninja Tactics To Grow Your Channel
In this module, Graham shares some ninja tactics on how to grow your Youtube channel fast. First, he talks about your posting time, he recommends posting your video at peak time and it can vary based on your viewer’s demographic.
Your posting frequency should be 3 times per week, this is what Graham found works the best for his channel. Too frequent will lead people to miss out on some of your content and if you post rarely, your channel will grow slow.
He also mentions, promoting your video as much as possible during the first 2 to 24 hours when your video is posted. This is to encourage Youtube to notice your video and push your video to more viewers because you need momentum to go viral.
Another thing that you should do is interact with anyone who comments on your video, this engagement helps to boost the ranking of your video especially in the first 24 hours.
Module 11: Beating The Youtube Algorithm
In this module, he reveals some tricks that you can do to beat the Youtube Algorithm. His first advice is to buy some subscribers if you have less than 100 subs when starting. This might look bad at first, but Graham explains that this is social proof, it tricks the viewers to think that your channel is good as it has some subs, so people will watch your video.
Another thing that he mentions is to collaborate with other Youtube channels, cross-promotion is very underrated on Youtube, and according to him, this is one of the good ways to gain that few hundred subscribers that you need to get the momentum going.
Some other lessons that he shares in this module are how to get your video to over 1 million views, the blueprint to making viral content, and some life hacks to grow fast.
Module 12: Youtube Growth Hacks + Monetization Techniques
In the last module, Graham talks about two types of videos that will help you grow your channel. The first type of video is the algorithm video, this is a clickbaity video that will likely go viral in a short amount of time from 3 days to 1 month.
The second type of video is the evergreen approach, this type of video continues getting views consistently over time and does not fluctuate much in view and engagement.
Other parts of this module talk about monetization techniques on Youtube. There is one dedicated video of how to make $100,000 per year with Youtube in this module and some monetization tips that you have never heard before.
He also talks about how to deal with copyright claims and the things to do if your channel gets demonetized.
Is Youtube Creator Academy Free?
No, it is not free. It costs $397. Find out if it is worth it below:
Pros
- High video quality teaching you everything about Youtube from A to Z
- Real testimonials from other members that have their own successful Youtube channels.
- Price is quite good for the content that he provides, it is now priced at $397, most complete online courses from making money online are priced at $997 or more.
- A good and realistic way to make money online
Cons
- The only con of this course is that it is getting more competitive in growing a Youtube channel, it will take a lot of time, if you want to make money quickly, you may want to get another course but if creating videos is your passion, then you can stick with it.
Final Thought
My final verdict is I would recommend this course if you want to become a Youtuber and make money from it. There are different kinds of ways you can monetize your channel once it gets big and it is a very lucrative business model.
However, growing on Youtube will not happen overnight, sometimes Youtube will just not pick up your channel even after one year of producing consistent content, it all depends on the algorithm and high-quality video.
If you are looking for a way to make money online in a short time, there are other business models out there that can make you a decent amount of money in not more than 3 months, but if we are talking about Youtube, it will take some time for you to even make $1000 per month with it but once you are big, then you will be mining gold.